Marine

Yanmar prepares to put a Toyota Mirai hydrogen powertrain in a boat

Yanmar has announced plans for a hydrogen fuel-cell-powered boat using a Toyota Mirai powertrain
Yanmar
Yanmar has announced plans for a hydrogen fuel-cell-powered boat using a Toyota Mirai powertrain
Yanmar

Japanese Diesel engine manufacturer Yanmar has signaled its intention to bring hydrogen fuel cells to coastal vessels and work vessels in ports. The company will look at further expansion in later project phases depending on market requirements.

As part of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the two companies, Toyota will supply most of the powertrain from its Mirai production line, and Yanmar will build a small prototype passenger boat to demonstrate and test the technology's marine potential by the end of the year.

With Japan and South Korea tilting heavily toward hydrogen as the "clean" fuel of the future, it makes sense to investigate fuel cells for marine use, as well as in aircraft, where they appear to have a lot of potential. Hydrogen offers far greater energy density than lithium batteries, allowing manufacturers to develop long-range vehicles with no local emissions. Mind you, there are clean and dirty ways to produce it, and the clean ways are going to need to get a lot cheaper if they're to be cost competitive.

This will not be the first time the Mirai powertrain sees action in a marine application. Earlier this year, the Energy Observer fitted a Mirai powertrain, alongside a solar hydrogen production unit, allowing this big clean-tech catamaran to generate its own hydrogen by using power from its vast collection of solar panels to split seawater.

While batteries still seem the best solution for clean cars, hydrogen may yet see its day in the sun in marine and aviation.

Source: Yanmar

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2 comments
guzmanchinky
How I would love a silent boat with endless torque.
martinwinlow
@guzmanchinky - Then buy an electric one and don't waste your time even *dreaming* that an H2FC boat is going to be seen for sale in a marina/harbour any time soon (if ever). Aside from all the other serious problems, having LPG on a boat is dangerous enough let alone H2 which is practically impossible to 100% contain. Being the smallest gaseous element on the periodic table, H2 leaks, and the fact that it has to be pressurised heavily to make it practical for transport use. And when I say *heavily*, I mean ~400BAR (~10,000psi or ~300 times an average car tyre). What could possibly go wrong?